Mar. 08 - Family Wins Autism/Vaccine Court Case
Larry King Asks, “What Should Parents Do Now?” Dr. Bob Has the Answer.

Last night Larry King interviewed the parents of a nine-year-old child who developed symptoms of autism shortly after receiving nine vaccines at her 19-month checkup. This family was the first ever to win a court case against the government that claimed vaccines triggered autistic-like symptoms in a child. The government conceded the case before it even went to trial, awarding the family a considerable sum of money under the Vaccine Injury Compensation Program.

Larry King also invited Neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta and two other pediatricians to discuss this issue and try to allay parent’s fears. Mr. King asked his guests, “What should parents who are worried about vaccines and autism do now? Should they go in for their regularly scheduled vaccines?” The consensus among the doctors was yes (although one doctor did voice some concerns over the issue) and that there is no conclusive evidence that vaccines cause autism. They suggested parents talk to their doctor and continue with vaccines as scheduled.

But Larry didn’t quite seem convinced in light of recent events, and vowed to continue the discussion at a later date. Mr. King seemed to be searching for more answers to offer worried parents.

Well, my Alternative Vaccine Schedule is the answer Larry King is looking for. The three main worries that connect vaccines with autism involve mercury, the measles component of the MMR vaccine, and vaccine chemical overload when too many shots are given at once. My vaccine approach circumvents all three worries and allows parents to fully vaccinate their children in the safest manner possible. Keep in mind that science hasn’t proven that any of these worries are even warranted. Yet, every parent with a young baby is concerned nonetheless. So here’s how my vaccine schedule addresses these issues:

First, mercury has been taken out of all vaccines as of 2002, except for some brands of the flu shot. As long as a parent knows to make sure their baby gets a mercury-free flu shot, this particular toxic metal isn’t a risk anymore.

Second, the measles component of the MMR vaccine can be delayed until age 3 years or later. Next to the mercury worry, this live virus vaccine (given at age 1) has come under the most fire. Because autism seems to occur or become most apparent between age 1 and 3 years, my vaccine schedule doesn’t give the measles vaccine until AFTER that age. Once a baby’s neurological system has matured for a few years, and normal language and social development are in place by age three, autism would be extremely unlikely to then be triggered by a measles vaccine given at that later age.

Third, many parents worry about overloading a baby’s little system with so many vaccine chemicals and germ ingredients in the large groups of vaccines given at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. Why not spread those vaccines out? Give 2 shots at a time instead of the recommended 6. Spread the shots out over several years instead of bunching them all together in the first 18 months. Give the most important vaccines first, and follow up with the less critical ones later on. My Alternative Vaccine Schedule does just that.

The child in this particular court case unfortunately had all of these three elements against her. In the interview with Larry King, the parents stated their daughter got 9 vaccines all at once at her 19-month checkup. The mother began to explain how they had skipped vaccines at 12 months (but she didn’t get to finish her statement), and so had to catch up with more shots at 19 months. If she got 9 vaccines at that age, this means that she received the MMR, DTaP, Polio, HIB, and probably Chickenpox vaccines all at one time. Normally these would be spaced out and given in 1 or 2 dose groups at 12 months, 15 months, and 18 months. But this child got 6 months worth of vaccines all at once. Plus, there was a significant amount of mercury in these vaccines back then.

The child was later found to have a mitochondrial disorder (which could make a child more susceptible to vaccine injury), BUT it isn’t actually known if this disorder was already there, or was part of the metabolic and neurological damage the child allegedly suffered after the vaccines.

Bottom line – parents who have huge worries over this issue can choose not to vaccinate while their babies are young, as long as they understand the risks of diseases and take steps to minimize that risk. But some of these diseases can be fatal, and vaccines ARE an important step in disease prevention, as the parents of this child clearly stated in their interview. Parents who choose to vaccinate CAN do so in a safe and logical manner that minimizes the risks of reactions. I encourage all vaccinating families to discuss my Alternative Vaccine Schedule with their doctor.